With the goal to increase the capacity of policy makers to accelerate the implementation of NAPs, the NAP-GSP Regional Training Workshop for the Caribbean on innovation and implementation of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) – held from 24-26 April 2019 – will focus on promoting innovative responses to adaptation needs in the Caribbean.
Photo: UNDP in the Dominican Republic

PRESS RELEASE: Representatives of governments from the Caribbean region are attending a regional workshop on innovation and implementation of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), with the support of UN Environment and UNDP through the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP).

•UNDP, UN Environment and the GEF are empowering effective climate change adaptation implementation and innovation in vulnerable countries of the Caribbean.

•Innovation in adaptation actions is crucial to tackle the effects of climate change which are already being experienced – including beach erosion, coral bleaching and changes in fish stocks.

•The NAP process will support medium- to long-term climate change adaptation planning and budgeting for all key sectors.

Climate change is already affecting societies across the Caribbean. Small Island Developing States (SIDS), including the Caribbean islands, are amongst the countries which are most vulnerable to climate change impacts. Climate variability and change is already being observed in the region, including warming of atmospheric and sea surface temperatures, sea level rise, and an increase in extreme weather events.

Observable impacts include coral bleaching, beach erosion, decreased freshwater stocks, changes in fish species abundance, loss of land and forests and an increase in vector-born diseases, including malaria.

Countries within the Caribbean region are calling for accelerated adaptation actions and innovative solutions to the challenges which climate change poses to this vulnerable region.

Kennel Delusca, Vice Chair of the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) and the lead author of the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land, acknowledged the challenges for adaptation planning due to financing constraits and lack of capacity. He said, “Countries should be working towards the implementation of the policies, projects and programmes that they have identified in their NAPs. However, we are aware that this has been a challenging.”

Mark McGann, Chairman of the Physical Planning, Environment and Development Committee of St James Municipal Corporation, said, “It is necessary to work together to successfully attain the ‘2030 Vision for Jamaica’. This speaks for the country to have a have healthy environment.”

The workshop is an activity under the joint UNDP-UN Environment National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP), funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). It is facilitated by UN Environment through the Regional Gateway for Technology Transfer and Climate Change Action (REGATTA) initiative financed by the Spanish Cooperation and experts from other organisations and the Caribbean region, including The University of West Indies in Jamaica, the Risk Adaptation and Insurance in the Caribbean initiative (CRAIC), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the International Organization for Migration, UN Women, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) and Jamaica 4H.

Elena Pita, Programme Officer, UN Environment, said, “Active learning from practice is essential. This workshop aims to exchange knowledge from various countries. All of them have have good experiences and we will discuss what has and has not worked.”

This three-day event will provide platforms and opportunities for knowledge exchange on climate scenarios, climate science, risk assessment and management, accessing climate finance and other key issues - through interactive sessions designed to expedite NAP implementation and promote innovation.

Tunnie Srisakulchairak, NAP-GSP Manager from UN Environment, said, “With support from the GEF-SCCF, the NAP-GSP has trained more than 300 national technicians from Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean. This is the final workshop for NAP-GSP support to non-LDCs. We hope that countries will remain connected through strong networks which have been created by this programme."

This workshop is one of a series of NAP-GSP workshops to build capacity for adaptation planning globally. This is the second NAP-GSP workshop to be held in the Caribbean region. A foundational workshop on NAPs was convened by the NAP-GSP in Guyana in 2017.

The joint UNDP-UN Environment National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP): The joint UNDP-UN Environment National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP), funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), assists least developed and developing countries to identify technical, institutional and financial needs to integrate climate change adaptation into medium and long-term national planning and financing. The programme supports the process to formulate and implement National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In doing so, the NAP-GSP works with development partners to implement the Nationally Determined Contributions and promotes ambitious climate action in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.